RECORDING DESK FROM ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS SELLS FOR $1.8 MILLION

The mixing desk that was used at Abbey Road Studios from the ’70s to the ’80s has been sold for $1.8 million.

The 40-channel, custom-built EMI TG12345 MK IV recording console was used at Abbey Road Studios by the likes of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, The Cure, Kate Bush, and many more stars from the era. Most notably, though, the console was used in the production of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” the band’s best-selling record and one of the most successful albums of all time. The progressive rock outfit began recording “Dark Side” at Abbey Road in June 1972, and the album ultimately sold more than 45 million copies following its initial release the following March.

Formerly housed within the Beatles’ famed Abbey Road Studios in London, the console was one of two made by EMI engineers in 1971 to replace earlier equipment on the verge of becoming obsolete. It ultimately spent more than a decade inside Abbey Road’s Studio 2 prior to being replaced in 1983, and was utilized by three-quarters of the Fab Four for post-Beatles solo work, among other projects.

The forty-channel desk itself is impressive to look at, it was bought by producer Mike Hedges when Abby Road upgraded their studios back in the early ’80s, now achieving the incredible sale price at auction via Bonhams of London.

British music producer Mike Hedges purchased the console from Abbey Road in 1983 and said it was still in “excellent working condition” upon hitting the auction block. He was only slated to fetch about $700,000 for the gear, Bonham’s said prior to bidding.